Robert Hall

pill (sleeping pill)

Overall, I've been liking what I've been seeing from GM in the last 2-3 years...in the near future, I'm esp. looking forward to the CTS coupe and wagon, and the Camaro. But I worry that besides some Cadillacs and the Corvette, there won't be many (any?) RWD models in, say 5 years... I'm not really a FWD fan overall..

evacuate

It's a side effect of working in the computer industry..I'm always looking forward, not dwelling on or in the past...the past is gone..I'm living for today and tommorow. The tech industry tends to lead to idealism, a belief that anything is possible with effort. It's also one of the reasons I'm a liberal (progressive, open-minded, looking to the future) and not a conservative (looking backward, bound by tradition, stuck in the past).. Anyway, it's all moot...GM has made mistakes in the past, as have other automakers. More importantly, where are they going now? What's GM going to look like in 5 years?

While driving to work today, I heard a Chevy radio ad that was talking about the Volt and the 40 miles.. but they didn't mention the car is still 2 years away..

I use my sunglasses whenever I'm outside in the daylight..I am pretty light-sensitive, even driving on a cloudy day I prefer my sunglasses...and living in Co and Az, where it's very bright most of the time, they are a necessity, IMHO.. Treks are good..I had one years ago, it got stolen a couple months before I moved out of Michigan..I have a Specialized, haven't ridden it in a while, it was a lot of fun though.

The way I look at it, it was a huge difference in philosophy and contexts for the products...in the '70s-80s, Cadillac was very old-school, building old-time soft, quiet, flashy American traditional luxury cars--much as they had been building in the '50s, while the Germans were building very modern, very serious, sober luxury cars that were more about solidity, performance, and driving experience...two very different approaches to luxury. Differences in realities. As far as Cadillac of today, the DTS and Escalade (even though it's a truck) are in the old-school tradition while the CTS is more towards the German approach. As an aside, Balthy's posts always crack me up, he reminds me of a know-it-all, grumpy 75 yr old guy that's always whining about the young kids of today and how things were better in 1950 or whatever... I am surprised that he's apparently in his '40s..seems much older from his posts.

It's a matter of perspective and one's reality context...$200 isn't much to me, but for the po', it could be a big amount. Speaking of bikes, when I bought my mountain bike 10 years ago, it was $650 but was considered a relatively cheap model, I know plenty of people that spent $3500-4000 or more on a bike..

technology

Yeah...coming from Colorado, I'm used to seeing an army of snow plows on the freeway and streets whenever there is a weather event. Unlike what I remember about Ohio and Michigan where there are often many small snow storms throughout the winter, the Front Range in CO usually get a few massive storms that come and go very quickly... But I would assume in the PNW they are prepared for snows in the mountains?

Same here..my eyes watered horribly when I tried putting contacts in..I always have trouble with the eye exam, where they shoot air in your eye or photograph it up close..my eyes involuntarily close when something gets really close... It's wierd, there are just some things I can't physically do, like snap my fingers, whistle, or swallow pills (have to grind them up).

When I lived in the Florida Keys as a kid, we had to evacuate for hurricanes at least 4 times in 6 years..never had any flood damage, but it was worrisome and scary.. In Ohio, there were always tornados and often floods, but nothing close to where we lived (we were in a valley in the hilly Appalachian foothills).. I've experienced lots of blizzards in Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado...I always paid attention to the weather and made sure I had plenty of food, would just stay in until the storm passed. Not much happens in Phoenix, summer monsoon storms cause power outages, downed trees, and flash floods, but those are out in the burbs where there are a lot of aroyos (ditch thingys). The summer heat is tolerable w/ air conditioning and a pool. One of the scariest weather experiences I've had was an ice storm in the Portland area a few years ago...they don't plow the roads, so it was sheer ice on I-5...7 hrs to go 25 miles...white knuckle driving in a rental Grand Prix. I think if I lived in Cali I'd worry most about wildfires or earthquakes, depending on the area.

Yes...I have 3 pair of old glasses (1 pr. of sunglasses, 2 pair of regular) that I've kept... still usable, had to wear one pair Saturday when a screw fell out of my regular glasses... I couldn't find the screw, had to wear my most recent pair until I could get to the glasses place and get the screw replaced... I've tried contacts in the past, but ended up with an eye infection..I prefer glasses, but I'm pretty blind without them...

Yeah, mine aren't blingy...some classy rectangular Ray Bans for the shades, and tiny ovalish polycarbonate rimless regular glasses w/ titanium temples (I get the smallest and lightest I can find because with my astigmatism and imbalance (right eye is much weaker than the left) they would be coke bottle thick if the lenses were large..

I paid over $300 for my prescription Ray Bans and over $300 for my prescription regular glasses... good glasses are expensive.

London Times article on road rage incident

That's a beauty..that truck bug shield looks out of place, though..one of those wierd old man things, I guess..

Great to see these pics...but sad when you realize it's still 2 years or so from being in the showrooms..

Personally, I like #2 better for the wheels, sunroof, and 2 tone seats. And with the 4cyl, you will get better mileage.

Speaking of Pontiac, in the 1990s, when I was in my 20s, they had nothing really that appealed to me.. I don't do FWD and I didn't care for the gaudy 4th gen Firebirds...so in my 20s, I drove Fords and BMWs... in this decade, I've been into Jeep and BMW. In my 40s (less than 2 years away), Cadillac is going to be my brand, unless I go back to BMW, or to Lincoln or Infiniti...

Sony Walkman? That is so 15 years ago... Apple iPods (and iPhones) are the gadgets of this era...

All this talk of cream filling and stuff got me hungry, so we went over to DQ and got some Banana Cream Pie Blizzards..very tasty. Saw a couple off-beat cars also---a red/silver Eagle Vision Tsi and and a red w/ white top '70s Jeepster. It's a nice cool (89 degrees) breezy evening here in the Valley of the Sun.

Mmm...I don't have them often..they are one of my sister's weaknesses..she can eat a whole box in one evening..avoids them now. For tasty snaky cakes, I used to love Ho-Hos..haven't had one in years. For cream-filled pastries, I love cream-filled donuts occasionally, or profiteroles with chocolate sauce on top... I want to try some Beard Papa's cream puffs next time I'm in Cali...a friend said they are great..Beard Papa's

I can't imagine down the road that anyone would want to fix up or restore something as mundane as a W-body.